SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team spent their spring break down south in Florida training and preparing to finish with a pair of ACC opponents at the end of the week. But the week would end on a tough note as the Irish would take a pair of losses to Miami and Florida State to end their trip.
Last Friday, the match with Miami would start well as Notre Dame would win a gritty doubles point with some new doubles teams in the lineup. At #2 and #3 doubles, both teams would come back from a break down in their set and extend the matches. Yu Zhang and Evan Lee would win four-straight games to win their set 7-5 and put the Irish within a match of taking the doubles point. Connor Fu has appeared in every match at the top position in the lineup but this weekend he had a new partner in Jean-Marc Malkowski. The duo would find themselves in a server’s battle as both teams held until they reached a tiebreak with no breaks of serve. A long tiebreak would ensue and after saving set points, the Irish pair clinched the doubles point with a 10-8 tiebreak victory. The #2 team of Sebastian Dominko and Noah Becker would come back from a break down as well and position themselves to win tiebreak of their own, being up 6-3 before their match would end abandoned since the doubles point was over.
In singles, Addy Vashistha would race out to a victory at the #4 position with a 6-3, 6-3 win. But the Miami team would take the next four matches to take the contest overall. Although the match was determined, the match at #1 singles would be played to completion. After Dominko lost a close first set 7-5, he came roaring back to take the second 6-0. After getting down an early break, the big lefty would get it back on serve and after some back and forth would play a long tiebreak to win the match against the #44 ranked player in the country and secure his fourth consecutive win over a ranked opponent.
On Sunday, with overcast skies and a cool breezy day, Notre Dame played #17 ranked Florida State and found little success. In doubles, Fu and Malkowski would win their match again to go undefeated in doubles on their debut weekend at #1 together. But the Seminoles would win the other positions and take a 1-0 lead heading in to singles. The Irish would struggle early and drop every first set with Dominko being closest with a tough tiebreak loss. He ultimately fell 6-4 in the second as well to the #4 ranked player in the country. Fu, playing at #2 singles, would make a strong push to win the second set of his match and force a third before succumbing to his opponent as the last match to finish the day.
Up Next:
After a few short days in South Bend, the team will hit the road again for a pair of top-20 ACC matches, this time in North Carolina. On Friday the 24th, the Irish will play the #20 ranked NC State Wolfpack at 5:30 p.m. Then they will head up the road 30 min and take on the #16 Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston Salem.
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#43 Notre Dame 3 – #58 Miami 4
Doubles
- Fu/Malkowski(ND) def. Vergara/Jalif(MIA) 7-6(9)
- Dominko/Becker(ND) vs/ Aubone/Martin 6-6 DNF
- Lee/Zhang(ND) def. Katz/Prat(MIA) 7-5
Order of Finish(3, 1)
Singles
- #43 Dominko(ND) def. #44 Martin(MIA) 5-7, 6-0, 7-6(8)
- #76 Katz(MIA) def. Malkowski(ND) 6-1, 6-2
- Prat(MIA) def. Fu(ND) 6-1, 6-4
- Vashistha(ND) def. Bierbaum(MIA) 6-3, 6-3
- Serra Sanchez(MIA) def. Zhang(ND) 6-3, 6-1
- Aubone(MIA) def. Corsillo(ND) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish(2, 3, 6, 4, 5, 1)
#43 Notre Dame 0 – #17 Florida State 7
Doubles
- Fu/Malkowski(ND) def. Bulte/Pourroy(FSU) 6-4
- Cornut-Chauvinc/Karpenschif(
FSU) def. Dominko/Becker(ND) 6-1 - Silagy/Smith(FSU) def. Lee/Zhang(ND) 6-3
Order of Finish(2, 1, 3)
Singles
- #4 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc(FSU) def. #43 Dominko(ND) 7-6, 6-4
- Pourroy(FSU) def. Fu(ND) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
- #107 Rihane(FSU) def. Malkowski(ND) 7-5, 6-0
- Karpenschif(FSU) def. Vashistha(ND) 6-3, 6-4
- Petrovic(FSU) def. Zhang(ND) 6-2, 6-2
- Connel(FSU) def. Bilsey(ND) 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish(3, 6, 5, 4, 1, 2)